Zombies
by Sharks Writes
Summary: While out helping survivors of a zombie outbreak, Bo and Tamsin run into Emma. Valkubus. Eventual Swan Queen.
1. Chapter 1

Emma had waited too long to move off the open road. She saw that now, as she walked down an eerily empty main street in the gloom of dusk. She'd considered continuing through the night, but knew she was too tired to stay alert in the dark. This whistle stop town was only slightly out of her way.

Her sweat soaked shirt clung uncomfortably to her back. It had for hours but she hadn't dared shed the protection of her leather jacket. The strap of her small messenger bag dug into her shoulder. She'd over-tightened it, afraid she couldn't retrieve ammunition fast enough if it was loose.

She gripped a Glock in each hand. One gun she'd brought from Storybrooke, the other she'd stolen off a body her first day on foot. The bug was trapped amongst other cars somewhere south. She missed it. Especially when it got dark.

A two-story house caught her attention. A section of roof stuck out just below the upstairs windows. It would be a fast and safe exit in the morning.

The glass panel by the front door broke easily with a rock. Emma thought she heard the sound echo down the street and hoped she had only imagined it. She snuck inside and pulled the door shut, re-locking it quickly just in case.

She paused inside the door, aiming a gun through the room. She listened for movement as her gaze swept through the buzzing silence. When nothing stirred she stepped carefully through to the kitchen.

With her gun aimed at the doorway she looked to the back door. _Locked. Good_. An ax leaned against the wall next to it. Emma made a mental note to take it with. A ripe smell drifted from the fridge. It had been without power for too long to look inside.

Her stomach twisted painfully. She hadn't noticed the hunger while walking. Dizziness washed over her and she braced herself against the counter with one arm. She lowered the gun, unable to keep it steady, and shuffled over to the slatted pantry door.

Only one shelf was still stocked. Her eyes were drawn past the pasta boxes to a half empty case of bottled water. She set the gun down on the nearby counter so she could pry some of the bottles out. As she shoveled them into her bag she cursed their weight, unable to carry them all.

Emma glanced to the doorway before heading for the ax. She picked up the tool and turned the handle over in her hands. It looked unused. Emma wondered if it had been bought at the start of the outbreak. When most people still thought it would resolve itself quickly.

A memory flashed through her mind. Henry running down to breakfast with an unbelievable story he'd seen online. She remembered her horror when she realized it was true. The knot in her stomach when she realized that she could, _or_ _had_ _to_, try to help. Mostly, she remembered Regina's hug when she begged Emma not to go.

A creak in the floorboards behind her snapped her out of her thoughts. A chill ran up her spine.

She spun towards the noise just as a red-eyed woman lunged towards her with a hungry growl. Emma stumbled backwards, barely enough time to lift the ax above her head.

She swung the weapon down with all of her petrified strength. The ax sunk into the woman's skull with a sickening crack. For a second she seemed to keep walking. Emma quickly realized the body was falling towards her. She sidestepped out of the way and pulled her second gun from her hip.

She steadied her breath as she waited for the next attack. A painfully silent minute passed. No one else appeared. She raised her foot over the back of the ax and pushed it further into the woman's head. Just in case. Blood oozed from beneath the blade and pooled onto the tile.

Emma stepped carefully over the mess, her gun still aimed at the kitchen doorway. The floor creaked again as she walked slowly back to the counter. Still no sounds of movement. She grabbed her gun and bolted for the stairs.

She used the last of her day's strength to push the dresser in front of the master bedroom door. She'd only had enough light to check the one room for tenants and didn't feel safe with just a lock. She knew she couldn't stay awake for long and would need a warning noise.

The soft cradle of the queen bed was a welcome comfort. Emma set the loaded guns within easy reach on the nightstand. The last of her granola bars had found their way to the bottom of her bag. They had warmed on her walk and now stuck to their wrappers. After finding no food in the kitchen she was glad to have them. With her heart still pounding, she consumed her feast in the dark.

* * *

Bo ran through the crisp chill of dawn. The gravel path beneath her boots crunched with each step._ Please be ready_, she thought as she headed for the waiting barn.

She could hear the pack behind her. Their growls echoed off the side of the house as she led them past. The creatures didn't run, and they weren't very bright, but they were persistent. And they seemed to stumble much faster when they caught the scent of food.

She glanced over her shoulder. Only six. The packs were getting smaller. It was still an intimidating sight. The way they rushed desperately forward, dried blood from past kills smeared across their faces. Festering wounds on necks and arms marked the bites that had doomed them.

Bo let out a sigh of relief when she reached her destination. She pushed the tall doors open, skidding to a stop to turn and push them loosely closed again.

She sprinted across the open floor of the building and leapt across a large patch of straw on her way. At the other end she jumped again, this time onto a waiting ladder. She climbed up to the loft.

"You took your time." Tamsin grumbled as she helped Bo pull the ladder out of sight.

"Impatient much?" Bo shot back. She did so as a courtesy. She'd noticed Tamsin's own look of reassurance when Bo returned to the loft. She could see the worry still clinging to her face. She wouldn't make Tamsin admit to either.

Tamsin walked over to her waiting rifle and took a knee. She aimed towards the barn doors. Her body looked frozen in the silence around them. Bo was struck by the way Tamsin's hair framed her determined gaze.

She was pulled from her observation by a familiar crunch of gravel. She picked up the second waiting gun and matched Tamsin's stance.

The doors burst open. Decaying bodies jostled against each other while trying to be the first inside. They stumbled forward, walking into the heart of the barn. They reached the patch of straw as a group.

The thatching gave way under their feet, sending all but one tumbling into the waiting pit below. The zombie left standing on the edge looked up at the loft. His hair was greasy and matted, his clothes torn to reveal unnoticed wounds. He bared his teeth and a low growl escaped through them.

Tamsin fired her weapon. The creature's head snapped back as the bullet plunged through his forehead. The rest of his body followed the momentum and fell backwards to the dirt.

Tamsin shifted her aim to the pit. The zombies were tall enough to escape, but the fall had confused them. A soccer mom with a broken arm tried to pull herself out. The flesh around the break tore further as she clung to the crumbling edge. Tamsin fired at the woman's temple. Blood and fragments sprayed across the others.

They didn't seem to notice the mess, but the gunshot refocused them. They looked up at Bo and Tamsin's perch. The movement raised the hair on Bo's arms.

"Nothing like some zombie killing in the morning." Tamsin declared with a smile. She reloaded her rifle.

"You might be a bad influence on me." Bo pondered out loud. She fired at one of the creatures. The body dropped to the ground beside the others. This was getting more fun every day. And she was getting _really _good.

"No one influences you." Tamsin defended. Bo fired her second shot before turning to smile in agreement. Tamsin didn't see it. She was already focused on her final targets.

With their rifles slung across their backs, Bo and Tamsin continued their journey east. The plan had always been to find survivors and get them to safety. Six weeks into the crisis, most people had found a safe zone or perished on the way there. Bo and Tamsin had taken to hunting the creatures to combat boredom.

Though, as the number of survivors dwindled, so did their zombie encounters. And so did their hope of finding a cure. Bo wondered sometimes if they kept moving the search to find helpless humans, or if it was simply to avoid going home. They had promised to find a way to save everyone. They were trying to be the heroes. They were no closer than the day they left.

The past few days had felt especially quiet. Bo almost didn't believe her eyes when she saw a figure in the distance.

"Do you see that?" She asked. Tamsin was looking to the horizon as well, but she didn't answer. When they got closer Bo raised her rifle and peered through the scope. The figure's determined strides were clearly human. If they hurried, they could intercept whoever it was.

* * *

Emma turned to check behind her. She'd been on the road for a few hours now, and hadn't run into another soul. She was overdue for a sighting. She scanned her surroundings, checking the horizon for signs of danger.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw two blurry figures ahead, down a road to her left. She couldn't tell if they were moving towards her or away. She kept walking, her eyes trained on them.

In under an hour, they were close enough for Emma to see they didn't have the lurching walk of the infected. She was still wary of their approach. She pulled one of her guns from its holster.

* * *

Bo knew the woman had spotted them. She had picked up her pace, and by the time Bo and Tamsin reached the highway she was 100 yards ahead. They gave her space at first, wary of the handgun.

The highway was empty. Surrounded by low fields, Bo could see they were the only ones for miles. As they got closer it felt awkward just following the blonde. But she wasn't stopping.

"Hey!" Bo called to her.

Emma paused when she heard the woman's voice. This encounter was inevitable. She turned towards the women. They seemed harmless, but it was strange to see them so far from a city. She had run into trouble with plenty of humans on her journey. As they got close enough to talk, she aimed her gun at them.

"I don't want any trouble." She tried to keep her tone steady, but her nerves shone through.

"We're just seeing if you need help." Bo assured her.

"_She's_ seeing if you need help." Tamsin clarified. "And we're not the ones pointing the gun."

"Where I'm from that doesn't mean much." Emma countered. Something about the way she said it caught Bo's attention.

"I'm Bo." She offered. "This is Tamsin."

"You know, the safe zone is the other way." Tamsin added.

"Maybe I'm not going to the safe zone." Emma said.

_But it's… so safe._ Tamsin thought. She didn't trust the woman's answer. Especially with her gun pointed at Bo.

"If you're not going to the safe zone, where are you going?" Bo asked for her.

Emma hesitated. She wasn't sure she should tell them. But there was something about the pair. The way Tamsin's look of suspicion turned to one of tenderness when she looked at Bo. The way Bo seemed to subconsciously move her arm to shield Tamsin each time Emma shifted. It was sweet. She missed that. She lowered her gun.

"I'm going home. To my family." She said.

"Okay, so where is home?" Bo asked.

"I'd rather not say." Emma admitted. She started to turn away.

"Wait." Bo stopped her. She was intrigued. She understood having something to hide.

"There are a lot of those things still out there." Bo warned. "Wherever you're going, it's dangerous to go alone." Tamsin snorted with amusement at the line. Bo rolled her eyes. The wordless exchange felt familiar. It won a piece of Emma's trust.

"Look, she won't let it go, so just let us tag along for a while." Tamsin suggested.

Emma thought of the dwindling supplies in her bag. Having backup sounded nice. She still had so much further to go. It didn't hurt that Bo's look of genuine concern reminded her of Mary Margaret's. Or that she _really_ liked their leather jackets.

"Alright." She nodded with a shy smile. She held out a hand to Bo. "I'm Emma."


	2. Chapter 2

The highway led the trio to a small town. They walked through a neighborhood first. Overgrown grass and un-removed twigs made it look like a storm had rolled through. Small houses lined the streets. Many had boarded up front windows, blood smeared wood protecting anyone still waiting out the disaster.

One of the houses had a simple message scrawled across the garage in black paint. _Help us._ But the boards on the front window had been torn outward. That and the cracked open front door, told them there was no one left to save. They silently passed the house and turned right at the corner ahead.

Two blocks later they were in the heart of town. Businesses and a town hall surrounded a square. Leaves and dirt had collected in the street. Bo kicked through a pile, and debris scattered across the broken glass that lined looted display windows.

A courtyard sat at the center of the square. Weeds crept up the unused benches, and cement paths were smeared with dried blood. An SUV had crashed into the tall metal fountain. The front end was flattened in several feet and the driver's side window had shattered. The shards of window on the ground were caked in blood and torn fabric.

Bo heard movement behind the SUV and walked into the courtyard. Tamsin pulled her rifle from her back, and she and Emma joined Bo in the overgrown grass. As they got closer, the crunching sound became clearer. By the time they reached the vehicle they all recognized it. They'd heard it plenty recently. _Chewing_.

Tamsin rushed ahead of Bo, her weapon ready. She peered around the vehicle.

A bloody skeleton lay in the grass. It was surrounded by mush that Tamsin assumed had once been organs or something. A raccoon sat next to the body. It had pulled a rib free and was gnawing at the last of the clinging tissue.

"Gross." Bo commented. The word caught the animal's attention. It growled at them, still holding the bone. The fur on its face was clumped with blood and perfectly framed its wide red eyes. Before it could take a step, Tamsin fired. The back of its head exploded into the grass. The shot echoed around them. Emma had to look away.

"We should get out of the open." Tamsin declared. They looked around the square for the best exit. Emma caught a glimpse of a grocery store sign down one of the side streets. She pointed it out to the others.

"We should look for supplies." Emma said. She started walking towards the store. Bo and Tamsin didn't argue.

Three zombies stood at the grocery store's front door. Their skin hung loosely on pronounced bones, and they hunched forward as if not strong enough to stand upright. The rest of the glass front had been haphazardly boarded up. Crooked slabs of wood could be seen through the window. The zombies stared blankly through the doors, the only space that allowed a glimpse inside.

Emma raised her gun, but Bo put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Save your ammo. You won't find any for a while." Bo cautioned.

"What about you?" Emma asked, gesturing between Bo and Tamsin's rifles.

"People like sharing with her." Tamsin quipped. Emma didn't get it, but she was happy to go along with it. She hadn't wanted to share just how sparse her defenses were getting.

Bo and Tamsin shot two of the zombies from a block away. The bodies sank to the ground. The third didn't react to the movement or the noise. Tamsin walked closer and shot it in the back of the head. The glass door it faced shattered, and it fell with a thud through the store entrance.

With the rifle still at the ready, Tamsin ducked through her improvised door. Bo and Emma followed, careful to avoid the remaining glass shards in the doorway. Sunlight leaked through the spaces between the boards on the front window.

"Anybody here?" Bo called out. "We're not dead." She added helpfully.

Several shelves had been moved from their aisles to create an open space in the middle of the store. Wrinkled blankets scattered the floor of the space. A few tables had been set up off to the side. The store felt peaceful compared to the square and courtyard, but it also felt very empty.

"Maybe they got out?" Tamsin offered hopefully.

Emma's eye was drawn to the cans of fruit and cracker packets strewn across one of the tables. She walked forward and slipped some of the food into her bag. She glanced at the others.

Bo stood at another table testing flashlights. Tamsin looked up at the aisle signs as if she were looking for something.

"I'm gonna go look around." Emma announced. They hadn't been quiet about their entrance and with the door unprotected, she was getting anxious about their exit. She headed for the left end of the store. Past several picked clean aisles and a section of empty vegetable bins, she saw the emergency exit.

Emma pushed the side door cautiously open. She peered out at what she guessed was the employee lot. A lone yellow pickup sat in one of the spots. She opened the door wider when she didn't see any of the infected nearby. Most cars these days were stuck in endless gridlocks, or had their gas siphoned. But it didn't hurt to try. She liked yellow. Emma rolled up a nearby floor mat to prop the door open, then ventured out to the truck.

Inside, Bo couldn't shake the thought of the store's inhabitants. When she found a bag nearby she could strap across her body, she threw some of the abandoned supplies in.

"This place gives me the creeps." She said under her breath.

"Let's grab some stuff and move on." Tamsin said absentmindedly. She'd seen the sign she was looking for. She walked in the opposite direction Emma had gone.

Bo was drawn to the back of the store. It felt odd that whoever hid here left so much behind. Swinging double doors along the back wall led her to the supply rooms. A sweet stench drifted from a silent refrigeration unit. Bo covered her nose and mouth with one hand, and held up her newly acquired flashlight with the other. There was no sunlight back here to guide her.

She reached another set of doors and pushed one side slowly open. The room was pitch black. She swept her light through the space. A roll-down loading dock door marked the end of the building. The door was closed, but it was the padlock securing it from the inside that worried her.

She heard the rustle of cloth nearby and sharply turned her flashlight towards it. Her fear was confirmed when the harsh beam landed on a huddled group of almost fifteen zombies. They were as thin as the ones outside. Their backs were to her, but when the light landed on them one turned around.

A large gash stretched across his face. His wide red eyes almost looked surprised to see her. He took a step, sniffing the air between them. Bo took a step back but the creature had already caught the scent of life. He let out a low growl and the others slowly turned as well.

Bo backed through the door, quickly stashing her flashlight in her bag. She pulled her rifle from her back and aimed it toward the darker room.

Outside, it didn't take long for Emma to get the truck running. For a moment she considered driving off without her escorts. She still knew so little about them. It was a risk to let them travel close to Storybrooke.

A gunshot from inside the store erased the thought. She flung the driver's door open, grabbed a gun, and ran back inside.

Bo stood outside the first set of doors, propping one side open with her foot. Her first 'casualty' lay between her and the back room. As the rest moved forward she steadied her shot and fired again.

"This way!" Emma called from the side exit. Bo glanced back to see Emma waiting alone.

"Time to go, Tamsin." Bo called across the store. No answer. "Tamsin!" She tried again. She turned back to the doors to monitor the shuffling zombies. They were getting too close for comfort. Before she could call to Tamsin again, she got an answer.

"I'm here." She heard behind her. She caught a glimpse of Tamsin out of the corner of her eye. She jogged past to join Emma, clutching several bottles of liquor in her arms.

Bo backed away from the pack. She fired at the closest one. When they started to stumble faster she turned and ran after the others. She heard the waiting truck before she saw it.

Tamsin stood in the bed of the pickup. She waited until Bo ran out to the truck to aim her rifle at the door. When Tamsin heard Bo pull the passenger door shut, she dropped to one knee to keep her balance.

Emma saw Tamsin's stance change in the rearview mirror. She threw the truck into gear and sped out of the parking lot. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bo shake her head in disbelief.

"One of them had to be infected." Bo said. "They thought they were hiding."

"They didn't have a chance." Emma replied. She'd meant it to be comforting, but when she heard it out loud it made her feel worse.

Bo watched the zombies in her side mirror as they reached the street. Tamsin fired her rifle and one of the creatures dropped to the ground. A couple of the others tripped over the body. Either they didn't know to stop their fall or they no longer could. Their heads bounced against the pavement.

Bo had to take her eyes off the mirror. She glanced at Emma, who stared at the road ahead with a crinkled brow. When a tear came to her eye, Bo knew that Emma couldn't look back either.


End file.
